Vol. 5, Iss. 1, 2011

Complete issue as PDF

The Islam-Online Crisis: A Battle of Wasatiyya vs. Salafi Ideologies?

10 May 2011

The Islam-Online Crisis: A Battle of Wasatiyya vs. Salafi Ideologies?
Mona Abdel-Fadil Article Islam Online has been one of the most prominent and stable Islamic websites since it was founded in 1997. However, in March 2010 Islam Online suffered a major crisis, which has come to be known as 'the IOL-Crisis'. This is a suitable case for exploring whether multiple layers of authority are at play in online religious communities(Campbell 2007). At the time of the crisis, I…

Article

Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Internet and Political Mobilization in Egypt and Tunisia

10 May 2011

Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Internet and Political Mobilization in Egypt and Tunisia
Johanne Kuebler Article The potential of the Internet as a political tool intrigues scientists and politicians alike. Particularly in the Middle East, the most frequent narrative is that the mere availability of alternative sources of information will empower political actors that are marginalized by the traditional media controlled by authoritarian regimes. Indeed, the protest movements in authoritarian countries interact creatively with this new medium to get their message…

Article

Beyond the Traditional-Modern Binary: Faith and Identity in Muslim Women’s Online Matchmaking Profiles

10 May 2011

Beyond the Traditional-Modern Binary: Faith and Identity in Muslim Women’s Online Matchmaking Profiles
Anna Piela Article Finding a suitable partner in both diasporic and non-diasporic settings proves increasingly challenging for young Muslims, especially those unable or not wanting to search within their kinship networks. At the same time, religious matchmaking websites are becoming increasingly common especially among Muslim women. As studies of Muslim matchmaking sites tend to focus on the ever-popular topic of the headscarf and its associations in the matchmaking…

Article

New Media and Social-political Change in Iran

10 May 2011

New Media and Social-political Change in Iran
Mohammad Hadi Sohrabi-Haghighat Article The increasing penetration of new communication technologies into everyday life has attracted a growing interest in the social, economic and political implications of these technologies. Most studies have looked at Western democratic societies and the literature on the developing countries is unfortunately small in comparison. In 2009 Iran witnessed a political upheaval in the aftermath of the presidential election in which the Internet was utilized…

Article

e-Islam: the Spanish Public Virtual Sphere

10 May 2011

e-Islam: the Spanish Public Virtual Sphere
Arturo Guerrero Enterría Article The increasing presence of Islamic content in cyberspace has made it possible for an ever-expanding Muslim public space to be established. This process is connected to the phenomenon of globalisation, which in turn has generated a process of growing glocalisation, wherein content in cyberspace has not only been globalised – making it accessible from any Internet platform around the world – but opening a channel…

Article

Review: Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace

10 May 2011

Review: Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace
Vit Sisler Book Review With growing Internet penetration rates and the proliferation of new media outlets in the Muslim world there is a simultaneously growing academic interest in possible social and political changes endorsed by these media. A recent contribution to this rapidly expanding body of research has been provided by Mohammed El-Nawawy and Sahar Khamis. They have co-authored a book called Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in…

Book Review